Situation Ethics Flashcards
What are the Fundamental Principles?
- Love is always good
- Love is the only norm
- Love is justice distributed.
- Love is wanting the best for everyone.
- Love is the only means.
- Love decides there and then.
What was JAT Robinson’s book called and what is the controversial idea that it suggested?
JAT Robinson’s book was called ‘Honest to God’ which rejected the idea of God being ‘up there’ but to recognise the fact that God is ‘out there’ and the ground of all being. JAT Robinson shared this idea with Tillich.
JAT Robinson quoted ‘man come of age’ … what does this mean?
JAT Robinson referred to people as ‘man come of age’ which means that people can freely choose and make their own decisions to what they believe and the pathways they choose to take. This idea supports Fletcher’s “pragma not dogma” approach which explains about doing the most practical thing and not always following the rules.
List the two different types of morality and Fletcher’s own approach to morality.
Legalism: based solely on laws
Anomitalism: every situation judged individually
Fletcher’s Situationalism: applying ethical theories to situations
Who highlighted the four principles of situation ethics in “The Puzzle of Ethics?
Vardy and Grosch
Which principle rejects such absolutes as “never” and “always” because all situations should be judged as individual and unique?
Relativism
Explain personalism.
People, not laws, must be put first in any given situation, and one must aim to achieve the most loving outcome. For example, a woman stealing food to feed her starving children would be acceptable according to this principle
If a decision is made with love and is the most important consideration of all, which principle would this apply to?
Positivism
What is agape?
Agape is self sacrificing, divine, unconditional love that is shown by Jesus.
What are the four working principles?
Relativism, Pragmatism, Positivism and Personalism
Explain proportionalism?
The principle that Christian moral laws should be upheld unless there are better (proportional) reasons to set them aside. Such as the unique situations that Fletcher suggested.
How is the concept of agape love flawed?
Situation Ethics seems prepared to accept any action or act at all, so long as it fits the criteria; someone may say that something has a loving end when in reality they are simply justifying a wrong act. For example, if someone was on life support and a relative decided to take them off said life support, they could justify it by saying that it was the “most loving thing” to do, when in actuality they have killed their relative.
Which argument led to JAT Robinson’s dismissal of Situation Ethics?
William Barclay claimed that it was impossible for individuals to make decisions that show the most agape love towards strangers as agape love is unconditional. How can a stranger show unconditional love towards someone whom they’ve only just met? For example, using Fletcher’s unique situation of The Burning House, who in reality would save a doctor over their own father. Barclay claimed that this way of thinking was simply too idealistic, and led to Robinson dismissing the Ethic.
Which argument led to Joseph Fletcher’s Atheistic views?
William Barclay claimed that Situation Ethics’s take on there being no absolute moral law completely contradicted the Bible’s Decalogue which specifically states things that are always wrong no matter the situation. For example, “thou shalt not commit adultery”. Therefore, Situation Ethics cannot claim to be a generally religious ethic, despite it’s basis on the teachings of Jesus - it is this argument that led to Fletcher becoming an atheist.
What does “pragma not dogma” mean?
Fletcher suggests that you should make a decision on the basis of practicality not religious rules.
Who said “love is the ultimate law”?
Tillich
Quote from Joseph Fletcher that summarises the whole s Situation Ethics.
‘Do the most loving thing’
Who said ‘love with care and then what will, do’? What does this quote mean?
St Augustine.
If you use agape as a guiding principle then you will not do wrong.
Explain ‘Positivism’.
One must accept that acting in the most loving way is the right thing to do without any rational proof that it is. Love provides justification, not proof, for an ethical decision. agape is morally right without question. Faith is important!
Explain ‘Pragmatism’
Ethics should be practical, it is important that ethical theories work in real life not just in an idealised society.
What was Joseph Fletcher’s unique situation involving the crying baby?
A group of North Americans (cowboys) were hiding from a group of Native Americans (Indians). In their group was a baby who starting crying. The noise the baby was making was alerting the people trying to find the group and if it continued then they would have been discovered by the Native Americans and killed. So the group had to make the tough decision to kill the baby to protect the rest of the group.
What is the unique situation concerning Mrs Bergermeir?
During WWII Mrs Bergermeir? was placed in a concentration camp. To escape the concentration camp and to return to her husband and kids she had to commit sacrificial adultery with one of the guards. When she became pregnant she was set free and so could rejoin her family and care for them
What social changes in the 1960’s influenced the development of Situation Ethics and why?
The Vietnam war - The War lasted almost 20 years, ending many lives and physically/mentally scarring many more. This caused Americans to question the wisdom and authority and the US government so then the Bible
Sexual liberation - Women had more control over their bodies and what they do with them (contraception. abortion) and more people were deciding to have sex out of wedlock which made them question the authority of the Bible as it teaches that sex is only for married couples.
Drugs opened peoples minds and made them question the Bible because people were being cured by drugs e.g cannabis granny. And so again they were going against the absolutist rules in the Bible as they found it could help people.
Why is the concept of personalism a strength?
Allows the individual to make their own decisions. Acting out of love frees us from having to follow established authorities of which we have become distrustful.
Robinson: “The only ethics for the man come of age”.
